A Bloomington man was arrested after he allegedly drugged and raped a woman he met on an online dating app, authorities said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said 37-year-old Luis David Garcia met the victim on Tinder and invited the woman to his home on the 9700 block of Locust Avenue on Tuesday.
“She shows up and then during that time while she was at his residence she was rendered unconscious and awoke to him performing sexual acts on her,” said Cpl. Adam Cervantes with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The victim was able to get away and call 911.
“Our Fontana Sheriff’s station got a call for service just after 3 a.m. So, they responded, made contact with her, got a statement then she was sent to a local area hospital for treatment,” said Cpl. Cervantes.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and went to Garcia’s residence on the 9700 block of Locust Avenue in Bloomington. Garcia was detained and transported to Fontana’s Sheriff’s station for further investigation. He was then arrested.
“During the service of the search warrant, investigators found some evidence that leads them to believe there may be potentially other victims,” said Cpl. Cervantes.
Investigators said Garcia wasn’t just on Tinder, but on several other dating apps in his attempt to meet up with other women.
“One of the charges was rape under the influence of an intoxicating substance. So, investigators believe that she was rendered unconscious by the suspect,” said Cpl. Cervantes.
Dating online has grown in popularity, but so have the risks.
“One of the big things that I would caution people that are meeting someone for the first time is don’t meet at someone’s residence that you haven’t met before, that you haven’t developed some sort of relationship or level of comfort with,” he said.
Garcia is facing three felony charges and is now awaiting a court date.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective D. Pedersen at 909-356-6710 or at dpedersen@sbcsd.org. Callers wishing to remain anonymous should contact We-Tip at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or go to WeTip.com.
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